Where have I been?

 I have kept my writings in what have become volumes of journals for years now. So, why am I renewing my relationship with this blog? Would you believe I don't know? There is so much going on in my head. My sons and their families, my aging home, and my fear of losing my independence. My concern for what is going on in the world around me. Writing helps me focus and ask questions that may not be answered. I get to think out loud. I have been unwilling to share in case someone would actually read these murmurings. Why worry? Who reads when they can listen to a podcast? Well, I'm back anyway, and maybe I will do a podcast. We will see.

Transcript of Virtuous Sisters Social Club's meeting By Staci Anderson

I am honored to be with you tonight at virtuous Sisters Social Club’s premier meeting.  I do not take it lightly that I have been asked to be the first speaker.  I have an assignment, which is simply to speak a few moments on life.  Now that seems rather general. Yet, life’s events and its effect on human behavior is always a major topic in any serious conversation I have. My friends who have taken such time with me will confirm that. So, today I am going to tell you a couple of stories from my life that I hope will get each of  you to think about your own  stories, connect some dots, make changes where you find a change is needed  and encourage you to follow your heart.

History:

My bio-mom was a promiscuous teenager who had lost her dad at about 4 years old. She looked for love in all the wrong places and found children without fathers instead. I was the second. Given to my paternal grandparents who reared me as their own. I too lost my “dad” at age 27 months .  Momma had breast cancer. With death coming earlier than she had anticipated she began a crash course in what today I call “practical life and character building skills”, she used saying and oral history to educate her young granddaughter. Her goal was as she said to make sure I could take care of myself when she would not be there to teach me any longer.   Daddy sent momma back to school as a teenager. I know nothing about his educational background except that their best friends had studied at FAM-C, and it seemed important to them that their sons went to college and that I should one day go to FAMU their school of preference for higher education. To make a long story short only my uncle went. Without momma’s instructions, my troubled and abused teen years would have done me in.  Still I made many choices that were not in my best interest.  Today I can see with my 20/20 hindsight that I did forget whose child I am.  My behaviors went against what I had been taught. It seems even now strange that I never enjoyed the behaviors that I deeply held as unbecoming of the person I am, yet I engaged in these activities.  I disliked being view as someone who “thinks she’s better than everyone else” or” who forgot where she came from.” Therefore, I tried to fit in. What I found was that having grown up in a family, which valued education, reading, art, travel and self sufficiency caused me to appear “bourgeois” to those whose life experiences and training were different from mine. However, the latter was just what I had done. Forgot where I had come from.  I forgot that I had somewhere to go. I forgot that “God blesses the child who has his own” (the way that saying was taught to me.) That I have a right and responsibilities to do better than those who were before me and to teach my own children that they are to do better than I do. I did not know until after momma and uncle Bobby’s deaths that everyone’s family was not like ours.

My momma owned her own business; daddy left her with a home, other property a toddler and a teenage son. Being that he was 22 years older than she was now makes sense that she would start a saying with “your granddaddy told me”.

Today I am a season woman who remembers who I am and whose child I am.  I no longer try to fit in. When I discovered that becoming a nurse; having the opportunity to speak and sing before thousands ,travel, plan and host events, earn money, volunteer to raise money for charities, help those who have been victims of abuse by people and nature and my propensity to educate ,all of which I played and dreamed of as a child. Was just the setup for a life I could be happy with.  I have been to other countries; I have sung before kings, I have had honors that still leave me in awe at the thought of them. Yes, I still dislike when I even hear someone make the statement that someone has forgotten where he or she came from or “they think”.  Why? Because I know that, the person making the statement does not know his own power. He does not know that where you have been or where you came from need not dictate where you can go.

What are you to get out of my story, a story that for the sake of time I must leave so much out?

Only this that if you were to connect the dots in your life you may just fine your true calling, you  will see that you are more than your past and that that past can show you where you are suppose to go.  What did you play as a child?  What do you really like doing? What type of actives do you love?  Can you earn a living with them? Would this be a hobby you can really enjoy? Does it frighten you? Is there anyone already doing it? Or is it waiting for you to create it?

              You do not have to be what everyone wants you to be. Nor do you have to do what others want you to do. Yes, there are limits in freedom. However, I am speaking to persons who are free, believers, who are free to be good and do good. Persons who do not have to stay where they came from unless they desire to. People who have the freedom to remake themselves.  It does not matter your age, your color or your gender.  I am going to leave you with this. My grandmamma said that there is no excuse for bad behavior, I can’t is dead and he is not coming back. The best way to get even with with the person who would choose to be your enemy or spreads lies about you is to outlive them; the world owes you nothing, and every generation should live better than the one before it.  I am adding this. Everything does not have to be I win you lose. I have found that I win- you win is possible.  By pooling and or sharing skills and resources we can be winners.  One example only will I give. If I sell shoes, you make leather goods, someone else is a tanner and sells pre tanned leather, the tanner need only be your supplier to  make him happy, he has a regular customer, you supply me with shoes and bags you are happy I am your customer. I sell shoes to persons who look at the leather and workmanship of my shoes and are satisfied  I’m  happy because I have customers. We are winners.

If you are not happy with who you are or what you are, make a change. Not because someone else doesn’t like you the way you are or has a negative  view of what you are or what you do.  What is most important isWhat is most important is  your opinion of yourself. Scripture say to love others as you love yourself. As, similar to, like. Comparable to. I have met persons who I do not want  to have love me as  they love themselves.  They hate themselves, have no self-esteem they don’t have any self respect. How can that person love  me.

I have learned to love myself, to care for me first, to remember who I am and to whom I belong. I will not deliberately harm you, I will not because in order to practice agape I have to make a choice. Agape means to intentionally chose to promote good will where ill will has been generated. Besides it would be beneath me I am a favored daughter of the King of kings, creator of the universe. A force to be reckoned with. And so are you.

Hello everyone,
I didn't want to believe my eyes. It's been nearly a year since I've blogged anything.
I've made a few "thinking out loud" notes on my face book page but, nothing more.  Too much time has past and too many things have happened to try to play catch up. So, we start from where we are.  Today will end a week long consecration of minstrels and  psalmist. This has been both refreshing and enlightening.  Embracing the truth!  This study did what a good study does to me. It made me go beyond what was presented to get more for my self. A former pastor of mine would say It satisfied  the needy and left plenty in the pantry waiting to be prepared for the for the greedy.  I've not had a problem preparing a meal for my self since I was 7 yrs old and oatmeal was my  specialty. O taste and see that the word is Mmmmm Good! Nearly every sentence  Minister Mingo  wrote set off new leaves on the branch in my head. I had to make my self go to the gym in order to move.
Today I'm just letting you  know that I will be working on my book."Mission Possible, from Victim to Victor". This has been a work in progress for longer than my embarrassment will allow me to say. I hope to finish it this year and work on getting it published.  I will share more insights on  my blog and make mention of them on my face book pages.
Be blessed and know you are loved.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God...

The kingdom, the kingdom. What's with the kingdom. Ever notice how most fairy tales mention a kingdom? even if the story is about  some member of the royal family it will mention the disposition of the king of the land." He was a generous and beloved king" or He was an evile king." As a child I loved fairy tales and now as a grandmother I fine I still like them.
It seems that in each story the happiness and prosperity of the people was a direct reflection of the king of the land. If he was a hard person who made life hard for his subjects the people were sad and poor. If he was a charitable man, had good communication with the people and encouraged them they would have a sense of pride. The people were happy to say they were of such and such kingdom.

In the natural kings and kingdoms have been very much the same. The people were happy even during times of war or famen because they had confidence that their good king would prevaile.  They trusted him. They knew he was not living a life of eaze as their sons went of to war and their children went hungry. The lands belonged to the king. The Kings word was law. The king employed the doctors, the lawyers and the military. The King kept the people informed  and was responsible to say how educated his subjects were.  Guest that is why the people  of France looked to the young king Louis and his queen marie to give them food duing the French revolution.  Her famous words "let them eat cake" helped her to lose her head.  An ineffective king with a spendthrift wife.  Kings were suppose to be responsible for the people.  Like a father with his children. Care, disaplne provision and protection.   Most of the kings and kingdoms read about in our histroy books were considered greedy tyrants who used economic slavery to control the people. This was common of the kings and lords of the day.  Only concerned with the welfare of them selves and their families and the keeping of their wealth.
Wars. usually fought over land and or the riches found on the land. It doesn't appear that the Roman form of goverment and expantion was ever again used as successfully as the Roman way.
living in 21 centry USA, I've only visited countries under the rule of a king.  Few kings today have the power and authority of the kings of yesteryears.
What I've read in the scriptures tell me that God never intented that  the Hebrews have an eartly king.  He wanted to be their king. He never wanted them to be come a relegion nor did he desire that we would be come a relegion. No. we were alway to be earthly representives of his heavenly kingdom.  All people we to be blessed through Abraham. But the people made themselves the object of the blessing instead of the conduit. Now that is a different  lesson. Relationship VS Religion.

The criteria for king was given in advance because God knew that the people would forget how good they had it and want to have a human king like the surrounding peoples. So they were given a list of criterion to check off when selecting him. They were even told what they could expect  one the king was in place. Taxes, drafted in to the army, your lands taken at the will of the king and your daughters and sons taken for servants. Still they wanted an earthly king to complain to and about.  you can read the check off list in Deuteronomy 17:14-20.
Now all of this is to say that Jesus use parables to speak  to the people. It was not meant to confuse
them, They lived in a kingdom which from a certain view looked like the kingdom that had always been.  Yet, though it looked as if the kingdom was still intact, they had their religion, their celebrations and their occupations, it was yearly more and more Roman.  The Romans could not understand a people with one god. They were unaccustomed to multi-gods and a king. Nor did the people  seem to realize that their god was to be their king. Of course the Romans didn't care about the gods of the Hebrews. They could have as many or as few  as desired but their king was to be Ceaser.

Next we will take a look at the teaching of Jesus.  What did he say and how does it bring light on the kingdom of  heaven.

A warning to teachers

Honor the Lord with your heart. Worship him with out consite, pride or emptiness.
Teach the doctrins of God, his requirements, his instructions.  Forget the empty rituals men have devised.  Reject the traditions of men.  You have made excuses for your behavior, your lack of honorable   behavior toward my people, by hiding behind church work.  You dilute the instructions of God to  strengthen your traditions and positions. Just as the Scribes and Pharisees  of that day so are  you. For with your lips you honor me but, your heart is for from me.

Warning

To teachers of the word.  Honor the Lord with your heart.  Worship him without conceit, pride  or  emptiness.   Teach the doctrines of God,  his requirements, his instructions.  Forget the empty rituals men have devised.  Reject the traditions of men.   You have made excuses for your behavior, your lack of honorable behavior toward my people even in your own homes, by hiding behind "church work".  Just as the  Scribes and pharisees of that day so you are.  Let him who has ears to hear, hear.

Seek ye First The Kingdom...History

 The gospels of Matthew chapter 4:17 say that from the time Jesus began to preach he said "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand". Verse 23 states "Now Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people."

To be clear the scriptures tell us that those who come to him must believe that he is and he is a reward- er of them who diligently seek him. So being me I started with historical Jesus. Now a rabbi friend of mine once told me that their are historical writings about this Young man who caused a great stir among the people  during the years just before the common era. It supposedly states how it was plotted to  have him arrested and killed for treason against Ceaser. This type of uprising was common among the people and their was even suppose to be another of the same name who made claim to being the sent one, The Christ.

I found that my looking up the ruler's names mentioned that I could get a better understanding of  the times, cultures and people that lived when Jesus did.  The book of John does an excellent job of presenting intellectual material in which to base ones conviction concerning the man Jesus. In fact he states he wrote "that ye may believe that Jesus is the son of God and that believing you may have life." KJV  In each of the gospels I fine the presentation of Jesus to be given in such a way as to provide evidence of his position as the Christ.  I would find it hard to understand that the persons written to would believe what they read if there had not been a base for plausibility in the presented words and deeds of the man. They had to believe that what had been presented as their history was indeed true. That what could be called miracles had been seen before and could be seen again.

To believe in my opinion requires both knowledge and volition. ( the power to choose or determine)

Just in Matthew, and we will be mostly in Matthew, we can find at least seven references to Jesus offering himself as I AM.  I am the bread of life,  I am the light of the world, I am the door, I am the good shepherd, I am the resurrection and the life, I am the true vine, I am the way the truth and the life. This was to establish in the minds of those he spoke to that he had the power and the right to do and say what he did and said.

Now, Jesus said a lot about the kingdom. What the kingdom is like, what those who entered the kingdom were like, what they'd have once they entered the kingdom, and where the kingdom is.

But he disclosed this information using parables.  The word parable does not indicate an intention to make the  information hard to understand or a mystery. Instead it was designed to give an example or comparison as the kingdom of heaven is like or as ...using examples that the people were familiar with.

 So you see how my simple request for answers concerning the kingdom of heaven/God became a long blog.

The people of Jesus' time were wanting and expecting a deliver to stand up to Rome. Military leader such as David had been. They were ready to fight for their release from these gentiles.  Many of them were as many are today. They had heard scriptures, they went through the motions of gathering them selves and some interpreted the scriptures in ways that could seemingly justify their behaviors. But because they did not have knowledge (an intimate relationship) of the scriptures they missed some key points that would have caused then to identify Jesus for who he was and understand the parables as the revelations they were meant to be. However, one needed to have heard in order to hear.

Jesus spoke with his disciples concerning the type death he would die. They didn't get it. They'd forgotten that this had been written of the Christ by the prophets. They did not realize that the Christ could not have been born sooner nor could come to die at a later time. Why not? Glad you asked.

The usual way was to conquer a people, take away their  daughters their smartest young men and their young men who were old enough and strong enough to work at hard labor but young enough to change their way of thinking to accept the master's culture and treatment of them as right, just and good for them. They were to become slaves, compelled to work and with out a choice. Later in history slaves were servants. They could be given their own homes and a piece of land. They could even make a profit and buy them selves and their families out of bondage. Now, the Romans had a better idea. Leave the people on their land, leave alone their gods, let them have their names and their languages.  Set up their religious leaders in high places, give them a little power under the rulers assigned to the land. Give these leaders a perception of wealth above the rest of the people.( along with the threat of keeping the people under control or facing criminal punishment and the loss of all wealth for all of your kind) Let the people continue their chosen occupations then tax um ta death. For those who rebel against the gracious generosity of  Rome they set up one of the most cruel public displays of punishment known to man. Crucifixion.

There is a reason you say for Jesus being born, living and dieing under these conditions? Yes.

 One is that Rome was the first and only kingdom to annex other countries and peoples to themselves. They added every place they conquered to "the kingdom of Rome".

Then they set up their government to dictate the laws of the land concerning commerce and finance.

they slowly injected their moral attitudes as not to get the older people overly stirred up so that they would be complacent concerning them. The younger one would as they reached the age of self direction would embrace the new morals  after having been exposed from a young age. ( sound like today) But the real kicker is The way they punished those considered criminals. 

The natural leaders of the people had a right to punish to a point for having sinned  but to put someone to death was left up to the HRIC. (head Roman In Charge).

No other government hanged anyone on cross bars of wood.  There was not a different word for tree and wood in Hebrew at that time. The person so sentenced was not hanged by the neck using a rope. remember that method was used during Ester's time.  The rulers before that tossed you into fire or fed you to lions. beheading and stoning were popular in the region. As Egyptian slaves being beaten to death was the entertaining method of their rulers. Again none of which was carried out on  Hebrew soil. Nails had to pierce his hands and feet.(not different word for wrist and ankle)  Some one who had no respect for the Jewish scripture would even consider this form of death. It was an insult to injury. " Cursed is any man that hangs upon a tree".  You might risk your physical life as a Jew but to be cursed of God". Nooooo!  Had the Romans beaten him to death then it would have disqualified Jesus as being who he said he was, because he had to fulfill all of the prophesy. Not just die and come back. You do remember that their were other who had died and came back even during the time of the prophets.

OK, history and reasoning lesson over. We will next look at the gospels and get some understanding.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness...